I was a god in the 18th century

In the fifty-eighth year of Qianlong's reign, in the county government office of Xianshuigu Town, County Magistrate He had just returned from a welcoming banquet hosted by the red-haired foreigners. He was humming a new song that had been performed on the stage today with a look of joy on his face.

This time, the red-haired foreigners were considered quite respectable among all the foreign envoys coming to the Qing Dynasty.

The expenses allocated by the court for the reception were quite high, but how much the actual cost was, only the officials in charge knew it. Anyway, when the British ambassador Macartney heard that the Qing court spent 1,500 taels on them every day, he was very skeptical. The prices here were so low that even eating gold would not be enough to spend that much money.

This is why County Magistrate He has been in such a good mood recently. Corruption at all levels has become a common practice in the officialdom of the Qing Dynasty.

Just when we were having fun, a spoiler came peeking at the lobby door.

County Magistrate He frowned and shouted coldly: "What are you doing sneaking around? Come out!"

"Yes, yes, yes..." A yamen runner walked in with a hunched back, bowed, and quickly smiled as he reported, "It's like this, sir. Today, some trouble occurred with the runners who went to the countryside to recruit people."

County Magistrate He particularly looked down on the group of unlearned clerks in the yamen, but many frontline matters could not be handled without their strong hands, and they had to stay at the grassroots level to run errands and do things, which was very contradictory.

He snorted coldly and asked calmly, "Why are you so flustered? What happened? We are just going to capture people, not to recruit a few people to pull the boat for tribute. What else can go wrong? I am also surprised."

The yamen runner stammered, "Wang Xiaoer and the other four who went to Taohua Village today, somehow, never came back, and they haven't brought anyone back to report yet."

County Magistrate He raised his eyebrows: "What do you mean? How many people did you say went there?"

"Your Excellency, there are four in total."

"Have you brought any weapons?"

"Bring it."

"No one came back?"

“Not one of them came back.”

Magistrate He stroked his beard and frowned, muttering to himself, "Taohua Village... is it that small village at the foot of the remote mountain? There is not a single big landlord in the village, and they are all self-employed farmers?"

"Yes, there are only a few acres of good farmland in that village. Most of it is saline-alkali land, which can't grow good food. The village is extremely poor. Most of the men in the village work as porters at the docks to earn a living in the winter."

"Have they ridden yet?"

"Well... not really. Taohua Village is a bit far away, but we are all used to running, so there is no need to ride horses." When the bailiff heard County Magistrate He ask this, he was speechless.

There are only two horses in the government office. Aren't they the exclusive vehicles for you and your advisors? ! How can these lowly people enjoy them?

I'm afraid that before I even reach the stable door, I will be kicked out by the groom.

County Magistrate He pondered for a moment, waved his hand and said, "Perhaps the mountain road is difficult to travel on, causing the delay. Send someone to wait at the dock to see if they will take people directly to the dock, where the boatmen are waiting."

"Yes! Sir, I will go to the dock right away. I'll take my leave."

After the yamen runners left, County Magistrate He frowned and thought for a while, then said to himself, "As the old saying goes, poor mountains and bad waters produce unruly people. Could it be that there are really unruly people who refuse to perform corvee labor in that place?"

"No, we can't make a big fuss while the imperial envoy is still here. We have to wait until this group of red-haired foreigners set off for Tongzhou before we can deal with the trivial matters of the unruly people." After coming up with a solution, County Magistrate He relaxed all over and hummed a little tune as he went to the staff quarters behind the county government office.

It was getting late today, so he didn't plan to work late into the night. He didn't get paid for overtime, so on such a beautiful night, he might as well ask his 18-year-old concubine to massage his shoulders and relax.

Xia Qingdai enthusiastically helped Wen Renyi build infrastructure in the mountains.

With her joining, there was an endless supply of giant purlins, giant rafters, and giant bricks, giving the little people an illusion that they were inexhaustible. Everyone worked very hard. They had never fought such a rich battle in their lives, and they were very motivated.

The villagers of Taohua Village, who were robbed halfway, have been numbed by the endless number of magical objects in the village. Now, even if they see a divine weapon (electric tool) falling from the sky and "banging" at the ground, they will not be surprised and they adapt very quickly.

Originally, there were inevitably one or two people among the crowd who were afraid of Wen Ren Yi, who killed servants at will. But after seeing all the wonders in the mountain stronghold, they were determined to follow Wen Ren Yi.

This must be the prince charming blessed by God!

Things like red light surrounding the room, lingering strange fragrance, dreams of gods bestowing yellow fruits, and other visions during the birth or childhood of emperors are all weak here!
Have you ever seen rice as big as your palm? Have you ever seen shrimp as thick and long as your thigh? Have you ever seen potatoes bigger than a person? Have you ever seen cabbages as thick as two people? Have you ever seen an axe that fell from the sky to split a mountain?

And these things can be found in the mountain village - no, in the mountain city. The villagers of Taohua Village saw it with their own eyes, how could they not be shocked and bow down in worship?

Wen Renyi, who looks heroic and fierce, is not a mere bandit, but the son of God who has lived among the people!

China has had emperor worship since ancient times, and this is true for scholars, farmers, merchants and artisans. Just look at the Chen family who killed Cao Mao in the street, and then they were kicked out by the Sima family. Even with a scapegoat, the Sima family still couldn't withstand the criticism of literati and poets for thousands of years.

The idea that kings' power is granted by God is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.

No matter who raises the flag of rebellion, in the initial stage they have to raise the banner of a banished immortal or the royal family. The same is true for the White Lotus Sect, the Tiandihui, and the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom in the Qing Dynasty.

Now Wen Ren Yi actually has the help of the ancestral gods, which is the best endorsement of his being banished as an immortal to the world.

If this is not the Son of God, then what is?

For Xia Qingdai, in addition to the pleasure of cultivating proxy rebels, she can also absorb the power of faith in an endless stream, and finally return to the prosperous days when she had Fucui Villa as her base camp.

It’s a pity that she has been very busy with her studies recently and cannot go home to appear in spirit every day, otherwise she would feel more involved.

She was no longer curious about following the British delegation to meet Emperor Qianlong, and preferred to build infrastructure in the mountains. Creating everything from nothing was a very satisfying process.

Because of her neglect of the British delegation, she did not know that another British member of the delegation had died of illness. She only heard about it from Owen two days later.

But she didn't care too much, at most she just sighed a few words. After all, they had met a few times, and he was also her little believer.

After the fleet arrived in Tongzhou, the water route had come to an end, and they had to change to land to reach Beijing. After the funeral of the deceased copper and iron technician, a group of people abandoned the ship and switched to cars, rushing to the capital.

Xia Qingdai looked at the bumpy official road and then at the carriage without shock absorbers. She felt sorry for Owen's suffering from the bumpy ride, so she directly got him a Wrangler off-road vehicle with a solar panel on the roof, and a RV towing behind it.

She did not take out the SUV in front of the Qing officials, so the reception staff on the Qing side thought it was a new exotic product from the West.

I just wonder where the horse behind the trailer is hiding. It must have eaten a lot of feed to run so fast. (End of this chapter)